Montana, again
by stephmcx
Summary: Everything was slowly but nicely settling back into routine and for once Danny wouldn't complain: Grace was cleared fit for school and was doing a great job catching up on what she had missed. Five-0 was back on track, having solved two cases only last week, and Steve had stopped asking uncalled-for questions about Rachel and looked like he was finally getting more sleep than two h


Author's Notes:

This is kind of a prologue or prelude to the fic I'm currently writing, and it will probably be more like a timestamp once I finish the main story. It was supposed to be a flashback originally, but it doesn't really fit in anymore and somehow I still had to get this out of my system. I hope it makes sense like this, but I think it should work on its own.

* * *

Danny didn't think it was a good idea at first, to go back to Montana so soon after Joe's death and all that had gone down at the ranch, and he still wasn't completely convinced.

Everything was slowly but nicely settling back into routine and for once he wouldn't complain: Grace was cleared fit for school and was doing a great job catching up on what she had missed. Five-0 was back on track, having solved two cases only last week, and Steve had stopped asking uncalled-for questions about Rachel and looked like he was finally getting more sleep than two hours a night.

But then Steve's phone rang on a Monday, just as they were having a late lunch at Kamekona's with the team.

"Be right back," Steve mouthed at them, once he had answered the call, and then he got off the bench and walked over to one of the unoccupied tables at the far end for some privacy. Danny busied himself with his food at first, but he couldn't help looking over at Steve every so often and notice that he became increasingly more agitated the longer the call lasted.

Once he was finished, Steve had put his phone down onto the table and rubbed one hand over his forehead repeatedly. Danny knew that gesture well and he didn't like it, it usually was a clear sign of stress. Steve propped his elbows on the table, leaned his head on his hand and showed no sign to return to his team. Danny shoved his half eaten lunch away, answered Lou's raised eyebrows with a non-committal shrug and stood up. He grabbed his and Steve's bottles of water and walked over to where Steve was sitting.

"What is it? Everything alright?" he asked, depositing the drinks on the table and taking a seat opposite Steve.

"That was a law firm from Montana," Steve said, looking at Danny briefly but then directing his gaze out toward the ocean. "They called about Joe's will."

"Joe's will?" Danny repeated, a little dumbfounded.

"Yeah—" Steve confirmed, but instead of explaining any further he sighed and rubbed his hand over his face again. Only now did Danny notice a telltale gleam in his eyes, and he wondered if it was the memories of Joe Steve was dealing with or if it was a fresh blow that had him struggling for composure. Either way Danny's heart ached for his friend and he leaned forward, pushing the water bottles out of the way and reached over the table with one hand and laid it on Steve's forearm.

"Steve?"

"Apparently, Joe—" Steve's voice sounded croaky and he paused to clear his throat. He looked down to where Danny's hand rested on his arm and took a deep breath. "He made his will… in my favor."

It took Danny a moment to process this statement. Steve was clearly overwhelmed by these news and Danny was more than a little surprised, too. He had never given it any thought, he had assumed Joe would have had some family somewhere who would take care of things. Somehow it had never crossed his mind that this family could be Steve.

It had dawned on him before that he had clearly underestimated Joe White and what the man had meant to Steve—despite all the differences they had had over the last years. Of course Danny had known that Joe had been Steve's mentor, his friend, a father figure. But how much Joe had been _family_ for Steve, he had always ignorantly overlooked. Hindsight is a bitch, and yes, Danny was sorry for his rash assumptions toward Joe. All he could do now was try to understand and try to shake off his inherent skepticism.

"In your favor?" he asked. "And he left you… what? The ranch?" That would indeed be a big deal and Danny squeezed Steve's arm lightly.

"Yes, the ranch, the land and… everything on it, Danny. They said he left me basically everything he owned." Steve looked up at Danny and moved his arm. Danny was about to pull his hand away when Steve caught it with his own hand and held on, laying both their hands on the table. "He wanted _me_ to have his belongings. I think... I think he had a sister, I don't know where—but he didn't have any kids and he wanted me—" he broke off, lost for words and swamped by emotions.

Before Danny could say anything, though, Lou signaled from the other table that the team was about finished with lunch and they would be on their way. Danny waved back in acknowledgment with his free hand and Steve turned around, too, giving Lou a short nod.

They sat in silence for a while after the team had left and probably it should have been awkward that they were sitting there holding hands, but it wasn't. It was about offering support and accepting comfort, it was what they did for each other. But it was also about something more, something new, something neither of them had yet acknowledged. Something that had changed, after Joe's death, after the month Steve had spent at the ranch, after Grace's accident. It was there, in the way Steve had grasped Danny's fingers, and in the way Danny's thumb stroked little circles over the back of Steve's hand.

"They—" Steve started to say eventually, but broke off and cleared his throat. "They wanted to schedule a meeting," he said and paused again, not quite able to meet Danny's eyes and Danny knew he wouldn't like what he was about to hear. "They asked if I could fly out to Montana anytime soon."

"Fly out?" Danny repeated, uneblieving. That sounded crazy, and Danny knew too damn well how crazy plans appealed to Steve.. "No, no, no, you're not going to Montana again, are you?"

"It's easier and faster to deal with all the legal stuff up there on site and in person," Steve tried to reason, although he was severely lacking enthusiasm about the idea.

"Let them come here, that's what they're being paid for. Steve—" At this point Danny withdrew his hand from Steve's to emphasize his point, but Steve interrupted him.

"Danny, Joe wanted me to have that place. So I will go there and do what is necessary," Steve said, and what he was lacking in enthusiasm, he was compensating with stubbornness, damn him.

"You can't be serious! Don't you think you've spent more than enough time holed up in that place?" Danny almost regretted his words immediately after he'd said them, because they came out much harsher than intended and Steve flinched.

But Danny remembered the day he had driven out to the ranch, not knowing what to expect or what state Steve would be in, and the circumstances he had barged into at the ranch had been even worse than he'd been able to imagine. He remembered Cath telling him that at first, Steve hadn't wanted her help either, that Steve had thought he had to see it through on his own. The helplessness Danny had felt still made him angry, and there was still so much left unsaid between them about those weeks.

Steve shifted in his seat, running a hand over his face in that nervous gesture again—and Danny suddenly understood. Steve didn't _want_ to go back to Montana, back to the ranch. He didn't like the idea any better than Danny did. But he felt _obligated_ to go and that's why he would see this through, come hell or high water.

"If you're going, I'm going," Danny blurted and to his immense surprise, Steve didn't utter a single word of protest.

"I would like that," he said instead, and Danny could see the relief in his eyes at the knowledge that he wouldn't have to face his memories alone. Danny reached across the table and squeezed Steve's hand lightly, glad that he could be of help and even more that Steve would accept it.

Eventually Danny convinced himself that going back to Montana might not be too bad. It might bring some much needed closure for Steve, since he had dealt with Joe's death and everything that had happened afterwards in his own typical way: not at all.


End file.
